Bozeman Haunted House

This playlist may not be your typical party playlist, but that's because the party isn’t for me. This party is for those who come to our house and enjoy the spooks and scares we provide. Most people look forward to Christmas and Thanksgiving, eagerly awaiting presents and food. Those holidays are typically the few times of year when most families get together and rejoice. Not for our family. The holiday we celebrate together every year is Halloween. October 31st is the day we come together and work our hardest to create elaborate and exciting haunted houses, each year with a new bone-chilling theme.

We strive to bring the best entertainment and worst nightmares. Not everyone can afford to take their families to expensive haunted houses, which is why we step in. Everything is planned for weeks ahead of time with rehearsals, custom character costumes, and ideas flowing from our brains to our fingertips to bring the true meaning of Halloween to those who come to see. No year is the same; so much effort is placed into the thought of each annual haunted house. For example, the year before last was themed “Twisted Christmas.” We created a bloody gingerbread man, a zombie grandma, a possessed nutcracker, and we even put my father on stilts in a large monster suit to play Krampus. We do all of this free of charge so those less fortunate can enjoy this incredible holiday as much as we do.

This year we are doing a “freak show” theme featuring the Strong Man, Miss Fortune, the Bearded Lady, and many more characters, all with a morbid spin on their appearances. Each of these characters are created and made up by the people I cherish most, people who are my family. My mom, dad, and friends enjoy bringing excitement and fear to so many. People like “Sir William,” “Special K,” and “Devon the Bear” spend countless hours every year filming commercials and helping with set-ups and takedowns. There are also two in the family who utilize special skills: Samantha, who gets everyone in check when we get cranky with one another, and Chris, who helps calm her and everyone else down. Over the years, people have seen how much work we put into the haunted house, and each year we add a few more members to the family. However, none of this would be possible without the two most crucial people in the house: my parents.

My parents, ever since I was little, have involved me in Halloween. I would chew on fake skulls as a baby, and even once mistook a person dressed as the grim reaper for my father. I remember helping my mom hang spider webs around the house and pin up my dad in large black cloaks. I would press the fog machine buttons and hand everyone silly string when they ran out. To me, Halloween was and still is the most wonderful time of year because of them. As I grew older, I became more involved, helping my mom come up with themes and paint headstones. But as I got older, so did they. I watched as their friends slowly got less involved with the house and more absorbed in their own lives, and every year one of their friends would be replaced with one of mine. It started with Kayla, and whoever else from my volleyball team wanted to come. Over time, the haunted house expanded and evolved into the crew we have today. I am so grateful every year for all the new faces who join our cast, but the best part is seeing both my mom and dad working their butts off, standing on stilts, and hanging from the roof. The coordination, the decorating, the preparing and planning are a lot of hard work, but seeing them laugh and smile makes all the effort worth it.

I know deep down that they can’t do the haunted house forever, and soon this tradition will be passed on to me. Someday it will be my house that children and families funnel through year after year. I will be setting up tombstones with my friends' kids and spending sleepless nights making costumes with my significant other. I can’t wait for it, but at the same time, I can. I want more Halloweens where we all pile into the car and drive to my parent's house. I want more Halloweens where I call my mom to tell her I have an idea, and we go back and forth building a whole new theme to run with. I want more Octobers where she sends me pictures of booths she’s made, and we joke about how Devon is going to have to duck his head all night. I’m going to miss these cold and crisp Halloweens hosted by parents.

So this is the party playlist I would like to show everyone: the playlist we add to every year, the playlist that plays behind loud screams, and the sound of a chainsaw with the blades removed. This is the playlist that holds more memory and more feelings than I could ever convey in a single article, this eerie, creepy, give-you-nightmares playlist. I hope you all enjoy and check out our haunted house.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdpNCZomE4jHz-Xrg88k1P3DwM-nQciRX